Fluff Bits
by sylph-feather
Summary: A disconnected series of oneshots/drabbles set in the Curiosity Made the Cat universe.
1. Phone Calls

**if you haven't already, **_**please**_** read Curiosity Made the Cat first, as nothing will make sense.**

**xXx**

_Shinichi and Heiji talk often; some matters are important, some are… significantly less so. _

It's one call when Heiji says, out of the blue, "I wonder what makes ya black."

Kudo stares blankly out at his library and instantly gives an automatic deadpan response in a _duh_ tone: "I'm Japanese."

There's a silent beat of processing time before Hattori explodes into raucous laughter, and Shinichi realizes his mistake. The cat gave a long sigh under the wheezing of his friend, adding, "and an idiot, apparently."

It takes Hattori several minutes to regain control of his breathing enough to speak, and Shinichi spends the whole time emanating an aura of _are you done yet_ that Heiji can surely feel through the phone.

"I'm never lettin' that go," is the first things Hattori gasps.

Shinichi almost protests, fangs bared and tail lashing, but pauses in consideration. Upon revaluation, he simply admits: "you know, neither would I."

"True friendship," Heiji croons in a half mocking tone— Shinichi just rolls his eyes, and Hattori can probably feel that through the phone too. He must, for he calms again— "I was talkin' about your fur color— what made you black? Or that specific cat? Or a cat at _all?" _

"It does seem equally likely that I would become a brown or yellow cat, or something," Shinichi agrees. His fur and hair match, yes, but obviously that has no determining factors when one's entire genes are overtaken by feline ones. "I don't even know why I'm a cat instead of dead; they knew enough about the poison to move onto _external_ tests, so why would I be the obvious exception to death…?"

Heiji skirts around the suddenly-heavy topic in favor of more joking to steer the conversation away— "seriously, what were they trying to accomplish with it?"

_Death_ is the obvious answer considering the term _poison, _but that's not where the cardinal detectives' minds go because that isn't _puzzling_ or _interesting. _Instead, they hop away from the heavy and dark possibilities and instead to cold clinicism fueled by simple curiosity.

"First— why a cat?" Heiji caws

"Maybe they were testing it on mice and cat genes were just available? I don't know!"

"Fair," Heiji muses. "But second: what was even the _goal?_ Even if it didn't work as intended, something in it made this… extreme misbehavior a _thing_."

"It's all just theories, obviously— but Agasa says he thinks they introduce a strong, replicating foreign agent for the body to fight against."

"Kill the internal organs or let the body succumb to fever, eh?"

"Right."

"Seems improbable that would go to _transformation_," Heiji hummed to himself consideringly.

"I'm just lucky," Shinichi drew out sarcastically, thought-speech from the bowtie accompanying a low _mrowl_.

"Says the black cat," Heiji laughs, barely able to force it out. "Sorry, Asian."

Kudo gives a long hard glare, and Heiji shudders in Osaka. For a moment, all is still before Shinichi seems to desm that jab unworthy of response, ignoring it in order to address a wrong: "I'm only _mostly_ black."

Heiji just laughed harder and waved him off. It took another span for the teen to get the laughter under control, and then there was comfortable, thoughtful silence.

Another question out of the blue— and talking to Heiji, that very much was a trend with him, Shinichi had discovered— "when do ya think you'll be… _back_? Your knowledge of the poison seem…" he trailed off, but the _lacking_ was left hanging in the air.

Shinichi tipped his head to the side with a little uncomfortable frown, the picture of discomfort and avoidance. Of _course_ Heiji would simultaneously steer away from and headfirst into heavier discussion. "Don't know," he softly settled on, speaking in a low, mumbling voice. He raised it a bit to say: "I mean, at the beginning I thought it was just a temporary thing, and then I thought that the professor would find an easy cure, but now…" he trailed off, considering the passage of time and the lack of closeness to any leads revolving the terrifying men in black suits and hats. He didn't need to finish; Heiji could pick up the shrug in his voice well enough.

"That sucks," was his simple whuff.

Silence once again; Shinichi stewed a bit at the conversation being pushed into areas he clearly didn't want to think about and would rather deny, and boiled even more at his own responses. He wasn't angry at Heiji in particular; more stressed with the world as a whole.

Heiji broke into his thoughts with a laugh: "stop stressin' Kudo."

Shinichi blinked, eliciting a soft _huh?_ out loud that came out as an embarrassingly cute little _mrrp? _

Heiji gave a soft laugh at that again, but thankfully picked up on it well enough to not need the flustered Shinichi to translate. "You were making kind of a—" he paused, cleared his throat, then made a sort of throaty, low "_mmmr" _growl. Shinichi flushed even further beneath his coat, and became absolutely puffed when Heiji added: "you make some pretty cute noises."

And then the Osakan broke into laughter, and Shinichi realized he was making the exact same growl once again.

Finally vocal, the Eastern Detective barked an embarrassed, "stop it!"

Heiji just cackled on how much blackmail material he had gained from this call, and gave a quick _goodnight_ under Shinichi's barking voice, hanging up. The last thing he heard was Shinichi's "I know how to hide a body, Hattori."

**xXx **

**welcome to my new series. i take prompts, even just one word prompts (tho please specify it's a prompt rather than just leaving a random word)! **


	2. Gossip

_Catastrophe is still the center of it. _

Of course, general news had gotten rather quiet about Catastrophe, but that didn't stop the police from being interested— and now, Nakamori's task force was in on it too, what with his appearances at KID heists.

They barely knew anything about Catastrophe at all; his build indicated a lengthy male, but his voice gave nothing away, and analyzing his clean moves at KID heists lead to the assumption of gymnast, but… that could be anyone. His gloves and mask kept him from further identification. It was too vague to lead to anyone in particular— though the majority of Division One did agree that Catastrophe was somehow oddly familiar to them in a deja vu sort of way; none could place their fingers on just _why_, or who he reminded them of, so this was brushed off.

Nakamori and the KID taskforce were more inclined to know the man's motives— to know whether they could trust him at heists, and how to treat him. Catastrophe often stepped in after they were captured, leading to them not being able to do much about it _anyways_, so it was almost a moot point save for their pride. Catastrophe was a mysterious beast; he seemed to revel in detectivery if his first known appearances were anything to go by, and he was quite good if Megure's word was to be believed— and indeed, he showed this talent off at KID heists, seeing through traps and tricks. But why the sudden shift from his clearly justice-driven homicide cases to playful KID heists…? Of course, Nakamori saw the heists as anything _but_ playful— but the masked man seemed to primarily see them as a source of entertainment. His goal was always to _chase, _but he gave no indication that _capture_ was part of that. He had been heard teasing KID, bantering, over their chase, and KID seemed to enjoy it as equally much as the cat weirdo— which of course ticked Nakamori off to no end.

All this thinking was done on their own time, though— for nothing particularly indicated Catastrophe was breaking any laws, or at the most was doing some non-damaging breaking and entering to get to KID's heists, and even that was difficult to prove. There was no proof he was working _with_ the thief, though no obvious proof he was working fully against him either, and at the first few murders he showed up at, he simply pointed out tricks— nothing against the law to divulge observations about a scene.

And thus, Division One and the KID taskforce were stuck to deal with the oddity of this shadowy creature that revelled in KID heists and the occasional murder case, and seemingly was a bit _not-quite-mentally-there_. They simply had to put up with Catastrophe considering there was no reason to capture him— much as their wounded pride and curiosity begged them to do so.

Division One and the KID task force had different reactions to this.

Division One of course had a hint of wounded dignity considering the cases Catastrophe had swept in and solved with ease— but their resident (and now seemingly _missing_) high school detective had gotten them used to that bitter sting, and they were able to brush that off. Instead, they regarded him with something between interest, awe, and a strange bit of fondness; Catastrophe's deja vu aspect seemed to trigger that one, and he just seemed faintly childishly cocky and playful in a way that was a bit endearing.

The KID taskforce, on the other hand, were tired of brushing away bitterness at being bested by weirdos; first a thief in gaudy white and then a crazed detective in a cat mask— _when would the embarrassment end? _As such, they feverishly investigated Catastrophe as though attempting to find some fault to embarrass him back over. At the heists, the taskforce was even more determined to outperform him, to not be left in the dust once again, with news stories focussed on the two mysterious figures and going so far as to neglect even saying the taskforce was _there. _

And thus, Division One and the KID taskforce continued talking about the strange masked being that invaded randomly and was a clearly amazing detective.

(Shinichi caught the former group sometimes, when he was able to sneak into the police station with Kogoro— and really, it just left him laughing in the corner).


	3. The Meeting

_Summary: _Ran sees a familiar face in the hospital.

_Or: _a continued bit of Chapter 68 (Bank Robber's Hospitalization Case) of CMTC. Read that first.

xXx

There's a commotion, and for a moment Ran is worried for her father; he had come down to the lobby to see Yoko's show, after all. Then she was worried for Conan, considering he'd leapt out her bag at some point and disappeared without a word— the only reason she noticed he was gone was the sudden lightness. He was worth worrying about despite the fact that he was a bit more capable of protecting himself than her currently laid-up father… but the trouble he could get himself into was _insane. _Ran darted to the lobby half-expecting a dead body and an investigative cat.

Instead she finds a scene of chaos: three collapsed cops that are getting cuffed by _other _cops, a crying man and his confused daughter, a gaggle of familiar cats melting into the shadows (none of the ones she saw were Conan), and… _a familiar head of hair, _quickly blending into the crowd.

_Shinichi…?_

Ran only has time to think that single line before she bolts after the figure, who is trying to make himself lost.

She pins him in a hallway as he flees, grabbing his shoulder through the blue hospital gown and pushing him a bit forcefully to the wall.

"It _is _you," she growls. His shades cover his striking eyes, but do not do anything for the nervous, lopsided grin and his crazy hair.

"A-ah, Ran," Shinichi stumbles out, confirming it while removing his ridiculously big sunglasses. "What a coincidence!" he beams, overacting. All it takes is a sharp glare from her to shut that front down and leave him sweating.

Ran feels the questions building up inside her come to the forefront and flood over— it's an endless stream of _why_'s. She asked him all this in their beginning conversations on the phone and lately they petered out, but something about seeing him for real brings it all to the forefront, and makes his absence sharp once again.

"Somewhere else," he mumbles, throwing paranoia-filled glances around before latching onto her hand and pushing the glasses on his face once more.

He leads her away.

xXx

An alleyway is apparently a suitable "somewhere else" for Shinichi; Ran wants to scoff at him.

Unfortunately… what he does isn't _unexpected. _It's the same song and game he executes in their phone calls when she asks a question pertaining to his situation, after all. Yes, she's frustrated with his avoidance in illuminating all but the bare minimum and need-to-know info, but Ran is also _used_ _to it. _

Interestingly, during his hedging, sweating avoidance of any _concrete _explanation, she catches a few furry figures with shining eyes peering out the recesses of the alley. Ran _also_ notices that when the cats become noticeable, Shinichi's hands start unsubtly moving in a _shoo_ motion— _huh. _

"You know," she drawls in frustration, "if you're not going to tell me anything, we might as well just move on and spend some time together with however long you're allowed here before that _special case_ calls you back." Then, carefully, trying not to reveal the wavering, fledgling hope: "or are you going to stay for real this time…?"

His face falls, and Ran knows it's a _no_ before the stammering guilt and apology leaves his lips.

"It's fine," she blows him off curtly. It… isn't exactly _fine, _but Ran knows she shouldn't be taking it out on him. This is something out of obligation, and (if her hunches are correct) possible _danger. _It couldn't be fun or even entirely voluntary on his part, either.

Moving on from that awkward web of conversation, Ran asks a simple, "shall we do the first thing, then?"

She didn't think it was possible for Shinichi's face to fall more. Ran feels herself go numb as he stutters through a half baked explanation of why he has to get back to the case, why he can't risk getting caught… the like.

And then he's gone. When the numbness goes away and Ran comes back to herself from the deep thought and turbulent emotion, she is surrounded by cats.

Looking down, she meets one in particular's deep blue eyes, and for one insane moment Conan's slit eyes look _so like _Shinichi's.

She blinks, and the similarity is gone.

**xXx**

**This COULD be canon? But I dunno, that's for you to decide since it doesn't really interfere with stuff, and I'm not gonna really make mention of it. It was just a fun little idea that didn't really fit that chapter's dealio. **


	4. Furmiliarity

Ran of course saw familiarity in Conan and Catastrophe. Eventually, enough interaction with the bakeneko to realize that he reminded her greatly of Shinichi. It wasn't a sudden realization; more subconscious, something she didn't realized she'd really realized until she began to really ponder. It also was nothing concrete— nothing for her to even have the barest flutter of a thought that they may be the same, even— just simple tics, reactions, and diction.

It was certainly odd; when Catastrophe broke his lonely seeming, self-imposed silence, he talked differently frequently. One facet of his personality was that of mysticism, the other of deductions, with dry wit in the center. Often they combined rather than being wholly separate, but still when Conan leaned on the latter two, Ran caught vague flashes of Shinichi; the deductions, his sarcasm, even the Shinichi-patented look were all similar.

And yet her mind still didn't connect anything— for several reasons. The first was though she was reminded of Shinichi briefly sometimes, Conan would just as often say something mystical or mischievous not at all in tone with Shinichi's personality. Thanks to Shinichi's acting (taught courtesy of his mother) the two had wholly distinct personalities; any similarities were, to her, just the usual familiarities one has in seeing pieces of other people manifesting in someone else. Internally, she joked to herself that all detectives were similar, and liked to imagine scenarios in which Shinichi and this strange creature occupied space together, interacting.

It made Ran laugh, really; after Shinichi's utter disbelief was gotten over, she could imagine Conan and Shinichi instantly becoming the best of friends or rivals. They both had the same interests and were highly intelligent, which were both points for the friendship scenario— but their pride and general sharp, rude sarcasm were points towards rivals… potentially bitter rivals, or potentially more friendly.

Ran wondered briefly what Conan would say if she proposed a meet-up. Truthfully, she was dying to prove the supernatural to Shinichi, if only to rub his face in it and see his mind completely blown… seeing the pair of odd detectives interact would only be a bonus.

...Granted, that was a mere fantasy; Ran knew why it would be unlikely to happen do to Conan's secrecy… but it was still great fun to imagine.


End file.
